Call or email today to urge the Mayor to Spend some of the Surplus and Stop Cutting the Safety Net!

Mayor Gray is finishing up his budget as you read this, trying to figure out how to close DC’s $164 million budget gap. We’ve been told the Mayor has not had much interest in raising new revenue and instead is looking to again slash the budgets for safety net services in order to close the gap.

This is our last opportunity to intervene with the Mayor! Please help us tell Mayor Gray that he should close the budget gap by raising new revenue and by spending some of DC’s $240 million in surplus revenue. Help us tell him, above all, he needs to STOP cutting the services low income DC residents rely on.

Please email the message below toeom@dc.gov, AND call the Mayor at 202-727-6263 using the phone script below as a guide, then send this to 10 friends or colleagues and ask them to do the same! We also have informative tweets (also below) you can send!

Find out more about the new revenue options recommended by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute here.

Thank you for standing with us!

Fair Budget Coalition

FOR EMAILS:

Dear Mayor Gray,

I am writing because as you finish making decisions about your budget, I request that you prioritize protecting the safety net services that DC residents rely on. I urge you to adopt the new revenue options recommended by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute and to spend some of the FY 2011 surplus revenue on current spending pressures.

The gap between the rich and the poor in DC is growing, and safety net programs have been cut drastically when people need them the most. Family homelessness has risen 46% since 2008, one in three children in DC live in poverty, and affordable housing was named at your One City Summit as DC residents’ top priority. Between the surplus and new revenue options, cuts to the safety net should not be on the negotiating table. I ask you to:

Follow the budget recommendations laid out by the Fair Budget Coalition, which can be found here.

Change the law and spend some of the $240 million in surplus revenue to restore funding to programs (like the Housing Production Trust Fund), to delay the TANF cuts and to help close the budget gap.

Adopt the new revenue options recommended by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, including their suggestion to forego putting $50 million to pay-go capital. Click here to see their other revenue options.

Please let me know where you stand on these recommendations.

Thank you for your time,

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FOR PHONE CALLS:

Hi, my name is __________ and I am calling today to ask the Mayor to prioritize safety net services in his budget. I urge the Mayor to close the budget gap by raising new revenue and by spending some of the $240 million surplus. I am asking him to stop cutting funding for safety net services. I support the budget recommendations of the Fair Budget Coalition and hope the Mayor is using them to guide his decisions on the budget. With family homelessness and unemployment on the rise, the Mayor needs to use all his resources to protect the safety net.

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FOR TWEETS (consider using any or all of the following):

@mayorvincegray I want you to Make One City Possible by investing in programs & policies that create opportunities to live & work in the DC

@mayorvincegray The gap b/n the rich & poor in DC is growing & safety net programs have been cut drastically when people need them the most

@mayorvincegray you can Make One City Possible by investing in programs & policies that create opportunities to live & work in DC